Local Plan goes to public examination
October 5, 2018
The first Local Plan to cover the entire South Downs National Park will be examined in public this November and December following its submission to the Government in April 2018.
Government-appointed Planning Inspector, Mr Brian Sims, is leading the independent examination which takes in the Local Plan, all of the evidence used in its preparation and more than 2,500 comments received in the pre-submission consultation in 2017. A series of public hearings will take place from 13-15 November and 4-6 December in Midhurst and from 11-13 December in East Sussex.
The Local Plan sets out the high standards that all proposed development must meet to protect and value nature – both for its own sake and also for the vital ‘eco-system’ services it gives us such as clean water, food and space to breath. During the examination the National Park Authority will make the case for the Local Plan, which puts our nationally important landscapes first – they are the reason the South Downs became a National Park and they must sit at the heart of every planning decision we make.
The right to appear and be heard at these sessions is at the Inspector’s discretion and limited to people or organisations who responded to the pre-submission consultation in 2017. Everyone who submitted a comment should now have been contacted by the programme officer with more information.
It is likely that there will be further round of public consultation on Main Modifications to the Local Plan. This will be followed by the final Inspector’s report and the National Park Authority are looking to adopt the finalised plan late spring next year.
Keep an eye on the Local Plan Examination page on our website for all the news and updates about the examination www.southdowns.gov.uk/local-plan-examination/
About the Local Plan
The South Downs’ landscapes have always depended on people and development – in our farms, market towns and villages – today is no different. 112,000 people live in the National Park and these communities need access to affordable homes and places to work. Putting the landscapes first means making sure we get the right growth in the right places.
As with any local plan, the emerging Local Plan for the National Park has gone through a number of drafts, each being tested along the way by research, evidence and public consultation. More than 10,000 comments have been received as the draft Plan has developed and evolved since 2014. 568 individuals and organisations responded to the pre-submission consultation in 2017.
When adopted the Local Plan will replace more than a thousand policies from 12 different local authorities with just 96 new policies covering the whole of the National Park from Winchester to Eastbourne.
Beneath our Local Plan sit around 50 Neighbourhood Plans developed by South Downs communities, which provide local development management policies and allocate land for development.